"By this boiling lava from
volcanoes snatched,Which flows and hardens with
time's dispatch,
Our public places and our pavements
Once arid now become resplendent.
And he who compares the old and the new
May wonder indeed at Paris renew'd;
Thus, all is made grand for the honor of France:
This is our new era and our Louis has begun it." (Green,
29)

The painting above is Monet's Boulevard des Capucines,
painted in 1873. It shows the expansive boulevards of Post-Revolutionary
Paris created by Baron Haussmann.
Monet portrays this "New" Paris as the ideal cultural
city. The boulevards are open, clean, and spacious, and the people
on them seem to be conveying a new idea of movement. This painting
conveys Monet's positive response to the modernity of Paris.

The quote is a poem which also reflects a Parisian's
positive feelings regarding the modernization of Paris. Its tone
has a sense of pride at "Paris renew'd", and
the a feeling of nationalism is found in "all is made
grand for the honor of France." These Post-Revolutionary
changes give Paris a "fresh start".

Technological Advances in Paris

As Paris evolved, certain advancements in technology were
made that changed the fabric of cultural life in the city. Specifically,
changes occurred in three major areas: the use of glass in architecture,
steam railways, and street renovations.

Industrialization in the 1840s brought a decline in the
price of glass as an industrial material due to economic progress.
Combining it with iron gave architects an opportunity to use this medium
in a new, creative way (Sutcliffe, 96). In the 1860s, department stores
such as the Belle Jardiniere and the Magasins Reunis began to use glass
and metal in the construction of their exteriors. (For
more on glass, click here)

As steam railways were
introduced to Paris, railway terminals also employed metal and glass
in their architecture. These terminals "brought a new world of
iron, speed and technological modernity to the very edge of traditional
Paris (96, Sutcliffe)." In 1859, J. I. Hittorff constructed an
innovative railway station, the Gare du Nord, effectively manipulating
glass and metal as his principle mediums. (For
more on railways, click here) Below is a picture of the facade
of the Gare du Nord:

The Gare du Nord

This photograph, although modern, depicts the
use of glass and iron in industry, specifically railway station
construction. The combination of these two mediums results in
this grand facade, a testament to industrialization and technological
modernity.

The streets of Paris also
underwent remarkable changes in the 1820s. The existing cobblestones
were covered with bitumen pavements to improve the overall aesthetics
of the roads, make them easier to maintain, and prevent citizens from
using the cobblestones to make blockades. Between 1822 and 1827, the
amount of pavement in Paris rose from 267 to 6,145 meters. (For
more on pavement, click here) In addition to pavement, gas
lights were installed. They lined the streets,
illuminating them throughout the night. (For
more on gaslights, click here) Soon Paris developed a more diverse
night culture.

"What a magnificent
spectacle this fashionable boulevard presents when at dusk the cafe
waiters light the gas-lamps and torrents of light instantly flood
forth, pure and white as the moon!" (Green, 10)

This image is of the intersection of the Boulevard Des Italiens
and the Rue Lafitte drawn by Eugene Lami in 1842. It depicts members
of the bourgeoisie class out on the streets of Paris during the
evening. The light of the gas lamps enables them to socialize
late at night. Gas lamps are one example of technology that revolutionized
bourgeois culture.

Thus, through the technological advances in the areas of glass, railways,
and street renovations, the city and culture of Paris continued its move
into cultural modernization.